I just quickly had a go re-editing an image with some of these techniques and it worked wonders. Making my way through your library of videos and finding them ever so helpful, thanks for making them, and making them easy to follow.
Thanks Michael, actually slightly annoyed that I clipped my audio, but I couldn't face rerecording! On the plus side I'm getting to grips with shooting in log now which is fun!
@@alexnail Oh man I have dealt with that quite a few times before. My audio engineer friend turned me on to "Izotope RX" they have some audio plugins that are amazing for clipped audio. They have a DeClip effect that uses audio samples to remove the clipping, it works really well. I think their elements pack is like 30 bucks.
Excellent video. Interesting how you don't refrain from using the contrast slider, when other pros strongly recommend against! I really like your no nonsense approach to instruction and the many "contrasting" examples you give.
Yeah, there is no logical reason not to use the contrast slider. I’ve seen a few professionals say “oh I never go above 30 with contrast” and then add a massive S-curve....which is exactly the same thing. Unfortunately some people teaching don’t actually understand what they are doing, only that it works. That said there are many other professionals who absolutely know what they are doing!
Absolutely amazing Alex. U r doing really great. I'm eagerly awaiting for u to live on Xploring Lights tomorrow. I'm just big fan of ur photography. Finally thank you Alex for those great lessons.
Thanks Alex, enjoyed the video. A fair amount of what you've explained in this one was already in my workflow (I was well pleased about that!) but I've learnt a couple of new things too. Your collection of recent videos have definitely influenced my editing output in a positive way - images looking a lot closer to the real thing, much less overcooking and crunchiness. Excellent advice superbly presented - long may your subscriber count grow.
@@alexnail IMHO I prefer the bite size format, 15 to 20 minutes would be optimum for me. Easier to digest and also easier to find stuff when referring back to your videos (which I find myself doing fairly regularly). I find the lengthy videos guest starring other TH-camrs that others release just too long and unengaging, I increasingly avoid these unless it's a subject or guest I'm particulalrly interested in.
Hi Alex, great video. I like your use of the gradient filter and adjustment brush to bring in more mood and depth to your photographs. Really nice touch.
Hi Alex, these have been a superb series of editing videos you have put out these last few weeks. I’ve learned a lot from them and will endeavour to remember and use some of the ideas and tips as much as possible going forward. I’m sure you’re itching to get back into the mountains as soon as possible now conditions are easing, and I look forward to some new videos from the outdoors and some fantastic new images from you 😀 great work!
When I win the lottery I’m hiring you to tutor me on Luminar AI. The next to last sunlit mountain was amazing. I think your technique may apply to my puny skills. Love the tip about changing the white balance in the cloudy sky. Your example image hit the point exactly Damn you make it look so easy. Awesome work
My rates are pretty cheap I think, at least compared to people of my experience! I haven’t actually used luminar before but it looks like a pretty good package :) I’ve never quite found a home for that photo you like - it feels like an image for context rather than a standalone shot, but I definitely like it. Glad you enjoyed the video!
Excellent Alex. I would however have been loathe to reduce the drama of that great 'wall' of cloud on the Iceland pano and would want to stretch it vertically, to give it more equal prominence in the final crop. Each to his or her own I suppose!
Yeah, personally I never physically manipulate elements of the image, other than to perhaps clone out a leaf or something trivial and temporary like that. I don’t like stretching things because it crosses a line for me, but as you say, each to their own!
Great simple tips, the difference from family snaps to pro photography. Maybe do one on how to crop pics to make the most of them and remove distractions?
Yeah, but it’s a whole video in itself! In short, watch the saturation and hue of the blue, darken it a bit if you can (without introducing artefacts), and crop in so you don’t have an empty shape at the top of your image!
Great video ..... I really appreciate all of this series taking things back to basics and explaining how and why some of the simple LR adjustments actually are more effective and useful than all the other mostly image degrading sliders. Now I'm aware that I basically only need to understand curves in PS I may actually use it rather than staring at the computer like a rabbit caught in the headlights every time I try to fathom it's complexities ....... I've always suspected 95% of PS is of little use to me but it's taken you to actually point out the 5% that I actually need.
Thanks Steve. I think it will always be the case that if someone is presented with a complex technique by someone they consider to be an ‘authority’ the assumption will be that is the best method. And occasionally that’s the case, but more often simple approaches work just as well and allow you to focus on understanding. As for photoshop... Most of what I do with curves I could do in lightroom but there is a tiny bit more precision in photoshop and I enjoy that kind of control. Anyway glad you’re finding the videos helpful!
Thanks Alex. It's good to know that my process aligns with yours. Regarding the my lost Flares message: I've just re-typed/ sent it (and copied it in case it goes missing again). I look forward to receiving your reply. Thanks, Nigel
@@alexnail Hi Alex, I'll try again. Are lens flares always red, green or blue? The reason for asking is that I make a lot of effort in my setup to avoid flares, but was caught on what is/ was a lovely shot. I was in a valley looking downriver with a lowish Sun ahead and slightly to me left. My main subject was the beautiful sunlit turquoise water and its patterned submerged boulders. Ahead and either with were hills running down to the river bank and extending to the horizon. Unfortunately, on downloading the image I discovered a couple of red flares (which I can now deal with - thanks), but rising from the river is a shortish column/ band of 'white' light. Any helping in understanding how/ why this could have occurred and more importantly - how to remove it - would be greatly appreciate. Thanks, Nigel
Thanks for another great video with some useful, simple tips Alex. I do like dramatic skies, but so often you see photographers get carried away and overdo it in the edit! :)
Good video Alex - one question though .... why don’t you use the luminance range mask with the gradient filter tool .... removes the darkening effect being applied to the mountain tops?
@@alexnail thanks for the prompt reply! That video was very good - I have used range masks a few times and found them to work well, but must admit it has been subtle use .... I will now look further at highlights and shadows, especially for the more dramatic changes. thanks again Alex
@@grantnewton5705 no worries. It ultimately depends on the understanding of the tool and knowing to check for these issues. Also with these videos I’m trying to keep things simple but meaningful. Lots of beginners plough all their energy into the ‘best approach’ without really focusing on the ideas behind the edits. With this video I’m not showing the absolute best approach, but rather the kind of approaches that I think many photographers should learn first. In this case I think darkening the mountain does no harm at all (it’s a minor change) and doesn’t even compare to the kind of thing people are quite happy to do with physical grad filters. But if I did want to prevent this, I would use photoshop masks, and that is more involved!
Thanks again Alex. I notice that you're not scared to crop out anything that doesn't add to the message that your photos are attempting to convey. I also notice that you don't appear to stick to any of the standard aspect ratios (1x1, 5x7, 16x9, etc.) and that you might rather be cropping your photos for compositional (visual) balance instead? I'd love to see you do a video entirely on the subject of cropping... what you include and exclude... and why. Keep up the good work mate (and that is said without a hint of sarcasm)! :)
Hi Paul, glad you found this interesting. And yes as you’re eluding to, the crop tool is pretty powerful in terms of how it can transform a photograph, it’s definitely a good subject for a future video! I don’t stick to the standard formats rigidly because there is no real advantage, but for consistency I like to keep 2x3 and 4x5 ratios if the crop I want happens to be very close.
I just quickly had a go re-editing an image with some of these techniques and it worked wonders. Making my way through your library of videos and finding them ever so helpful, thanks for making them, and making them easy to follow.
Another wonderful and informative video Alex. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge. Cheers, Keith
My pleasure Keith
Really polished video man, great work!
Thanks Michael, actually slightly annoyed that I clipped my audio, but I couldn't face rerecording! On the plus side I'm getting to grips with shooting in log now which is fun!
@@alexnail Oh man I have dealt with that quite a few times before. My audio engineer friend turned me on to "Izotope RX" they have some audio plugins that are amazing for clipped audio. They have a DeClip effect that uses audio samples to remove the clipping, it works really well. I think their elements pack is like 30 bucks.
@@MichaelShainblum that's an awesome tip, thanks! I will check it out!
cool video,I liked your thoughts on image editing
Excellent video. Interesting how you don't refrain from using the contrast slider, when other pros strongly recommend against! I really like your no nonsense approach to instruction and the many "contrasting" examples you give.
Yeah, there is no logical reason not to use the contrast slider. I’ve seen a few professionals say “oh I never go above 30 with contrast” and then add a massive S-curve....which is exactly the same thing. Unfortunately some people teaching don’t actually understand what they are doing, only that it works.
That said there are many other professionals who absolutely know what they are doing!
Excellent video once again Alex
Thanks Andrew
Another very instructive video, and superb photography
Thanks a lot Howard, and thanks for being a regular watcher!
Great video, thank you 👍
Excellent tips there, Alex. Thanks 🙏🏻
No problem!
This is excellent. I spent a lot of time on a snowy image, trying to separate a foreground tree from the surrounds, as they were finally similar.
Excellent video as usual. Great photos with excellent tips. I actually used it on one of my photos I captured over the weekend. Thank you.
Absolutely amazing Alex. U r doing really great. I'm eagerly awaiting for u to live on Xploring Lights tomorrow. I'm just big fan of ur photography. Finally thank you Alex for those great lessons.
Thanks Pradipta! Looking forward to the session tomorrow :)
Thanks Alex, enjoyed the video. A fair amount of what you've explained in this one was already in my workflow (I was well pleased about that!) but I've learnt a couple of new things too.
Your collection of recent videos have definitely influenced my editing output in a positive way - images looking a lot closer to the real thing, much less overcooking and crunchiness.
Excellent advice superbly presented - long may your subscriber count grow.
That’s great to hear Richard. I’ve been advised to stick to this shorter form bite size format so I’ll probably be doing that going forward!
@@alexnail IMHO I prefer the bite size format, 15 to 20 minutes would be optimum for me. Easier to digest and also easier to find stuff when referring back to your videos (which I find myself doing fairly regularly). I find the lengthy videos guest starring other TH-camrs that others release just too long and unengaging, I increasingly avoid these unless it's a subject or guest I'm particulalrly interested in.
Hi Alex, great video. I like your use of the gradient filter and adjustment brush to bring in more mood and depth to your photographs. Really nice touch.
Alex; fantastic tips, really appreciate you sharing these details which have greatly improved my editing skills ,thank you so much!
Beautiful images, as always, and great tips there - hope you manage to get out and about more now that lockdown is easing in the UK
Yes! Very excited for that - now to get fit :P
Nice Thumbnail!
Hi Alex, these have been a superb series of editing videos you have put out these last few weeks. I’ve learned a lot from them and will endeavour to remember and use some of the ideas and tips as much as possible going forward. I’m sure you’re itching to get back into the mountains as soon as possible now conditions are easing, and I look forward to some new videos from the outdoors and some fantastic new images from you 😀 great work!
Thanks Neil, glad you’re getting a lot from the videos and yes, definitely looking forward to getting out again!
When I win the lottery I’m hiring you to tutor me on Luminar AI. The next to last sunlit mountain was amazing. I think your technique may apply to my puny skills. Love the tip about changing the white balance in the cloudy sky. Your example image hit the point exactly
Damn you make it look so easy. Awesome work
My rates are pretty cheap I think, at least compared to people of my experience! I haven’t actually used luminar before but it looks like a pretty good package :)
I’ve never quite found a home for that photo you like - it feels like an image for context rather than a standalone shot, but I definitely like it. Glad you enjoyed the video!
Excellent Alex. I would however have been loathe to reduce the drama of that great 'wall' of cloud on the Iceland pano and would want to stretch it vertically, to give it more equal prominence in the final crop. Each to his or her own I suppose!
Yeah, personally I never physically manipulate elements of the image, other than to perhaps clone out a leaf or something trivial and temporary like that. I don’t like stretching things because it crosses a line for me, but as you say, each to their own!
Great simple tips, the difference from family snaps to pro photography. Maybe do one on how to crop pics to make the most of them and remove distractions?
Very nice.
Excellent Alex. Thanks very much. Any advice on editing predominantly sunny blue skies?
Yeah, but it’s a whole video in itself! In short, watch the saturation and hue of the blue, darken it a bit if you can (without introducing artefacts), and crop in so you don’t have an empty shape at the top of your image!
@@alexnail Thank you Alex. Much appreciated and looking fwd to more of your vlogs 👍
Great video ..... I really appreciate all of this series taking things back to basics and explaining how and why some of the simple LR adjustments actually are more effective and useful than all the other mostly image degrading sliders. Now I'm aware that I basically only need to understand curves in PS I may actually use it rather than staring at the computer like a rabbit caught in the headlights every time I try to fathom it's complexities ....... I've always suspected 95% of PS is of little use to me but it's taken you to actually point out the 5% that I actually need.
Thanks Steve. I think it will always be the case that if someone is presented with a complex technique by someone they consider to be an ‘authority’ the assumption will be that is the best method. And occasionally that’s the case, but more often simple approaches work just as well and allow you to focus on understanding.
As for photoshop...
Most of what I do with curves I could do in lightroom but there is a tiny bit more precision in photoshop and I enjoy that kind of control.
Anyway glad you’re finding the videos helpful!
Thanks Alex. It's good to know that my process aligns with yours.
Regarding the my lost Flares message: I've just re-typed/ sent it (and copied it in case it goes missing again).
I look forward to receiving your reply. Thanks, Nigel
Maybe there is something in the message that TH-cam misinterprets as spam because I can see this message but still nothing else! Really sorry!
@@alexnail Hi Alex, I'll try again. Are lens flares always red, green or blue? The reason for asking is that I make a lot of effort in my setup to avoid flares, but was caught on what is/ was a lovely shot. I was in a valley looking downriver with a lowish Sun ahead and slightly to me left. My main subject was the beautiful sunlit turquoise water and its patterned submerged boulders. Ahead and either with were hills running down to the river bank and extending to the horizon. Unfortunately, on downloading the image I discovered a couple of red flares (which I can now deal with - thanks), but rising from the river is a shortish column/ band of 'white' light. Any helping in understanding how/ why this could have occurred and more importantly - how to remove it - would be greatly appreciate. Thanks, Nigel
@@NigelDownes-fi2pk the comment has finally worked, so I replied on the original post but...it depends!
Thanks for another great video with some useful, simple tips Alex. I do like dramatic skies, but so often you see photographers get carried away and overdo it in the edit! :)
A bit like this clickbait thumbnail - I would NEVER edit a scene like that!
@@alexnail Sorry Alex, were you trying to show me something? I'm not seeing it!
@@ianperkins1360 the thumbnail for this video I meant! You can see I edit it a lot less in the video than I have for the DRAMATIC thumbnail!
@@alexnail Ah with you now. Sorry. I didn’t associate the word ‘clickbait’ with anything YOU would produce! A cunning ploy to draw in the viewers! 🤣
Good video Alex - one question though .... why don’t you use the luminance range mask with the gradient filter tool .... removes the darkening effect being applied to the mountain tops?
Hi Grant, I made an entire video on precisely that subject!
@@alexnail thanks for the prompt reply! That video was very good - I have used range masks a few times and found them to work well, but must admit it has been subtle use .... I will now look further at highlights and shadows, especially for the more dramatic changes. thanks again Alex
@@grantnewton5705 no worries. It ultimately depends on the understanding of the tool and knowing to check for these issues. Also with these videos I’m trying to keep things simple but meaningful. Lots of beginners plough all their energy into the ‘best approach’ without really focusing on the ideas behind the edits. With this video I’m not showing the absolute best approach, but rather the kind of approaches that I think many photographers should learn first. In this case I think darkening the mountain does no harm at all (it’s a minor change) and doesn’t even compare to the kind of thing people are quite happy to do with physical grad filters. But if I did want to prevent this, I would use photoshop masks, and that is more involved!
Thanks again Alex. I notice that you're not scared to crop out anything that doesn't add to the message that your photos are attempting to convey. I also notice that you don't appear to stick to any of the standard aspect ratios (1x1, 5x7, 16x9, etc.) and that you might rather be cropping your photos for compositional (visual) balance instead? I'd love to see you do a video entirely on the subject of cropping... what you include and exclude... and why. Keep up the good work mate (and that is said without a hint of sarcasm)! :)
Hi Paul, glad you found this interesting. And yes as you’re eluding to, the crop tool is pretty powerful in terms of how it can transform a photograph, it’s definitely a good subject for a future video! I don’t stick to the standard formats rigidly because there is no real advantage, but for consistency I like to keep 2x3 and 4x5 ratios if the crop I want happens to be very close.
These days I always shoot a bit wider than necessary... just so that I can carefully crop my photos later.
@@paulbruins9935 exactly, I do the same with critical scenes
Why not just push the Drama slider to 100%? Or even better, the Drama AI slider!
Great video!
Ha yeah, no doubt Adobe are already onto that sort of thing. I suspect automatic image edits are not far away at all!